Outsider
by Muggle Jane
Summary: Being a squib is not the same as being a Muggle, no matter what You-Know-Who thinks. Written for Uni for the GGE2014!


**A/N: Disclaimer, I don't own the characters. Written for Uni!**

"I'm fine, Alastor." She looked up at him from her position, sprawled on the hard pavement of the wet street. The F in fine was a little drawn out from her swollen upper lip.

"I can see that." He leaned down and offered her his hand, pulling her solidly upright when she slipped her hand into his. "Any finer and you'd be bloody marvelous."

She said nothing to that, and let him guide her around the fallen body of the cloaked, masked man he'd had a brief fight with. The light drizzle had coated his mask with a sheen of fine droplets that winked in the light from the streetlamp. He was probably dead. Hopefully dead. She was more than a little relieved that he was the one prone on the ground instead of her. One less Death Eater in the world was never a bad thing.

Then again, Alastor wasn't considered wizarding Britain's best Auror for nothing.

"I need to deal with this. Can you get home?"

"I think I'll manage across the street," she replied drily. She took her hand back and turned away from the body, heading to where the porch light was illuminating her front door. She could feel his eyes on her as she limped home, and the sensation didn't stop until her door was shut solidly behind her.

She leaned back against it, allowing herself just a moment of weakness. They were getting bolder, the Death Eaters, to attack her just a few meters from her home, and it was getting a little frightening to go out at all anymore. She was lucky Alastor had been there to help her- then again, luck probably had nothing to do with it. She knew he watched out for her, sometimes even when he shouldn't. Shaking her head, she wondered where he was supposed be that night- probably not seeing her home. She wished he would just stop. It would be easier to bear if she knew he wasn't always watching...

Nipsy came and sat on the carpeted floor in front of her, watching her with those intelligent amber eyes. "I'm fine," she told the part-kneazle. "Just need some ice and a cuppa."

She was just pouring herself a cup of fresh tea when there was a heavy knock at the door. She limped back through the house to open it, not at all surprised to see Alastor standing there. "Come in, have some tea." She didn't ask what he'd done with the body, and he didn't volunteer the information.

"It's getting bad, Arabella."

She turned, hearing his distinctive gait as he followed her back into the kitchen. "It's always bad for people like me."

"Wait."

She stopped, and then suddenly her lip felt like it was back to its normal size and her leg didn't throb nearly as badly. "Ta very much. Magic gets what ice can't."

They sat together at the table, and she kept her eyes firmly on the white tablecloth. She could feel him looking at her, though, he had a very large presence and a very intense blue stare.

"Never go out alone. Always go out in pairs." The words sounded practiced, like it was something he said a lot. Then again, he had the Auror Department to manage, he probably said it every day.

She laughed at that, shaking her head. It was a bitter sound, even to herself. "I'll go on as I always have. I'm not one of your Aurors. I'd be a liability for whatever wizard went with me. If I'm going to get killed, might as well just be me." She traced her finger along the fold in the tablecloth. "I'm to have a new mission, did you hear?"

He grunted his assent. "Be safer, anyway."

"Hang being safer. My clients come all the way out to Surrey? _Muggle_ Surrey?" She felt Nipsy rubbing against her ankles and she leaned down to stroke the soft gray fur. "And how am I going to keep in touch with everyone? I don't suppose an owl would fit in out there." She looked up to meet his gaze, her eyes fierce. "A squib's not the same as a Muggle, no matter what You-Know-Who says."

"I know that. You'll hardly be left alone."

"As good as, given the nature of the mission. Wizards showing up in Muggle Surrey for tea? I don't think so."

"You could be right back here in a week."

She eyed him for a moment and shook her head. "I didn't take you for a fool, Alastor Moody." An uncomfortable silence fell between them, filled with the things neither one of them could say. "Dung's already asked if he can store some of his 'merchandise' with me."

"What'd you say?"

"I told him to sod off, of course! I don't need that kind of attention, do I?"

"I could-"

"You bite your tongue." She stood up and faced him, one finger pointed into his face. "I know what you're going to say. We've talked about this, haven't we? I'm not... I can't defend myself, and you'd always be looking over your shoulder for me. I can't get you killed, I won't have it." She sighed and sat down heavily, her outburst left her feeling a little drained. "They need you."

"So do you."

"There are more of them." She gave him a sad smile. "I'll keep. It'll be safer there, anyway, Dumbledore was talking about including me in the Fidelius." She stood up. It was too hard to sit with him any longer. "I'm leaving on Tuesday."

He stood as well, his cup of tea mostly untouched. "I'll see you off."

"You shouldn't."

"You going to stop me?" he asked quietly.

She shook her head, not really surprised. She walked him to the door and locked it behind him, listening for the faint _pop_ that would mean he'd left. Living away from him would be easier. She'd been drawn to him since they'd met, and she knew he was to her. But... He needed someone who could manage herself against those that would target her simply for being with him. And Arabella Figg was not that woman. She was just a woman, not even a witch. Sometimes it seemed the cruelest of fates, to be born into that world without the ability to be a part of it.

Maybe Surrey wouldn't be so bad, after all. "Come on, Nipsy." She continued on to the bedroom, quickly getting ready for bed. She lay down and closed her eyes, and she was just drifting off to sleep when she thought she heard the telltale _pop_.


End file.
